Clean & Simple Fireworks Burst

  I made this quick card the other night using 2 challenges over on Splitcoaststampers (these challenges can be addicting!).  The first challenge was the Clean and Simple (CAS63) Challenge which was to make a card using a layout that they provided.  The second challenge was the Technique Lover's Challenge (TLC269) to using piercing on your card.

  I also wanted to use at least one color that will be retiring to make way for the Stampin' Up Color Renovation this summer.  I think that will be one of my own personal challenges....to use up some of the retiring paper and embellishments to make room for the new! 

  This is a really easy card to make and the only real trick to it is to get your images lined up just right or the piercing will look uneven.  To get my fireworks (or flowers or dandelion heads!) lined up I just used my Stamp-a-ma-jig.  This is a really underrated tool and it's super helpful to have when you're anal and like to have your images stamped just so or if you want a really neat clean looking card.  Nothing throws a card off like a crooked image!  When I first got my SAMJ it took me a little bit to figure it out and every time I used it I had to refer back to the instructions that came with it.  But now I'm a pro at it and I reach for it a lot.

  I must apologize for the poor quality of this photo as well as the ones in my last several posts.  I had noticed that my images were not really crisp and they seemed kind of dark.  I thought I just wasn't taking the photos with enough light so I took more on a sunny day and turned all the lights on in my stamp room and nothing seemed to help.  I even resorted to reading the manual for my camera--yikes!  I finally asked my husband to take a look at the photos and offer his opinion.  He picked up the camera clicked a few buttons and told me somehow the image quality had been set to the lowest quality and that was the problem.  I should have just asked him in the first place!  So hopefully my future photos will look better.  Unfortunately I had already sent this card off so I couldn't re-take the photo.

Stamps: Good Friend, Vintage Labels (sentiment)

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Taken with Teal

Paper: Whisper White, Taken with Teal

Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, paper piercing tool & template